The Latest: Gov. Brown urges UC regents not to hike tuition

January 25, 2018

File - In this Jan. 25, 2107, file photo, University of California employees, who are also members of the Teamsters Local 210, shout in protest against cuts in their benefits and tuition hikes outside of a University of California Board of Regents meeting in San Francisco. The University of California's governing board is scheduled to vote Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018, on a plan to raise tuition for the second consecutive year after Gov. Jerry Brown proposed a budget increase of 3 percent and urged university officials to "live within their means." (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Latest on University of California’s proposed tuition increase (all times local):

6:10 p.m.

Gov. Jerry Brown has sent a letter to the UC Board of Regents urging them to reject a proposed increase in tuition at the University of California’s 10 campuses.

Brown’s letter was sent by email to the regents, who were scheduled to vote on the proposed tuition hike at a Wednesday meeting.

UC President Janet Napolitano subsequently asked the regents to delay the vote until May.

Napolitano did not refer to Brown’s letter but said the delay would give regents more time to lobby the Legislature for more public funding.

In his letter, Brown said that voting Wednesday on a tuition increase was “premature” and encouraged regents to “reject outright the current proposal to increase student tuition.”

The governor called on the UC governing board to reduce “the system’s cost structures rather than increasing the financial burden on students.”

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4:40 p.m.

The University of California Board of Regents has delayed a vote on a proposed tuition increase until May.

The decision Wednesday came after students and other critics had urged the governing board not to rush to vote this week.

UC President Janet Napolitano said after hearing students’ concerns, the governing body was “better advised to defer voting on this item until its May meeting.”

The regents were scheduled to vote Wednesday on a proposal to raise tuition at the UC’s 10 campuses for the second consecutive year.

The proposal was to raise in-state tuition and fees by $342, or 2.7 percent, for the next academic year, putting the cost of tuition and fees for California residents at nearly $13,000.

Many students urged the regents to reject the proposal or at least delay their vote to allow more time to lobby the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown for additional state funding.

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11:10 a.m.

University of California students are urging regents to reject a proposed tuition hike that would increase tuition for the second consecutive year.

Nearly two dozen students spoke out at a regents meeting in San Francisco on Wednesday ahead of the UC governing board’s scheduled vote.

The regents are considering a proposal to raise in-state tuition and fees by $342, or 2.7 percent, for the 2018-19 academic year.

It would increase the cost of tuition and fees for California residents to nearly $13,000.

Among those who spoke were a single mother, a child of Vietnamese immigrants who was the first in his family to attend college and a middle-class student who does not receive financial aid.

They say they’re already struggling to afford tuition and pay for rent, textbooks and groceries.

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11:30 p.m.

The University of California is proposing to raise tuition at its 10 campuses for the second consecutive year, a move it says is necessary to compensate for state funding cuts at a time of record-high enrollment.

The UC Board of Regents plans to vote Wednesday on the proposed increase of $342, or 2.7 percent, in annual tuition and fees for the 2018-19 academic year.

California residents currently pay $12,630 in tuition and fees. If approved, the cost would increase to nearly $13,000.

Out-of-state students would pay an additional $978, bringing their total for annual tuition and fees to nearly $29,000.

The regents approved a similar increase last January, which was the first tuition hike since 2011.